Mamelodi Sundowns to help Brockie

Mamelodi Sundowns assistant coach Manqoba Mngqithi has explained the challenges Jeremy Brockie has when it comes to fitting into the style of play at the club.

Brockie has not scored in a competitive game since joining Sundowns in January. The former SuperSport United striker scored in the pre-season Shell Helix Cup against Kaizer Chiefs and hoped that the floodgates would open, but that has not been the case.

He continues to struggle at the club and Mngqithi says he sometimes asks himself if they are doing enough to assist Brockie, in terms of delivering crosses into the box.

“It’s very unfortunate because I still believe he is a very good striker. I have seen quite a few strikers in the league, when I am doing my analysis of the opposition and all that, and when I look at the amount of work he puts in getting into the right … From time to time you look at your team and ask ‘are we also doing enough to assist such players?’ … because he is a player with certain qualities,” Mngqithi said.

“He might not have the qualities that a predominant Sundowns player would always have, but in and around the box he is very important. At Sundowns we don’t have too many wingers that play in wide channels that will always play for somebody.

“If you look at Tottenham [Hotspur] they play to arrive to Harry Kane. Everybody knows that Harry Kane is there, but at Sundowns we have too many good players, so we can’t play for someone. And it becomes a problem for a player with the qualities that Brockie has because you’d expect that if he got three or four crosses in and around the box, he is likely to give us something. But how many crosses are going to come from wingers, because most of the time [at Sundowns] fullbacks are the ones who play in crosses. He has to try keep pushing. It’s unfortunate that he has not scored.”